sights of taormina.
we did more than just eat in taormina. here’s a look at the surrounding town, high in the mountains of sicily.
eating pasta in taormina, sicily.
Let’s be honest – I sampled many different kinds of pasta while in Italy. Maybe too many. Between visiting Rome and Sicily, and then the Emilia Romagna region, there were too many specialities to pass up. The pasta I had in Taormina, Sicily, however, trumped all of the others. Entering the main piazza, surrounded by tourist traps featuring outdoor seating and larger-than-life pictures of pizza, we traveled up a set of unassuming stairs where we discovered Ristorante al Duomo, a Michelin Star restaurant overlooking the square from a quiet terrace. The compact menu featured perfectly al dente pastas, paired with sweet sauces – from ragu to spicy tomato to anchovy with broccoli rabe with breadcrumbs. And to top it all off, the best cannoli I’ve ever eaten – the freshest ricotta filling sprinkled with sage-green bits of pistachio, a speciality of the region. Mouth-watering photographs ahead…
Ristorante al Duomo
Vico Ebrei, 11 – Piazza Duomo, Primo Piano (First Floor)
98039 Taormina, Sicily
revisiting st. peters, rome.
after seven years, i recently revisited my old neighborhood, down the street from st. peters in rome.
this time, i tried to capture pieces of the area that i hadn’t noticed before.
faces of italy & croatia.
i just returned from two weeks in italy, montenegro & croatia. coming back to rome after living there nearly seven years ago was like seeing it with completely new eyes. the food, the scenery… it all stuck to my soul like pasta to my ribs. but the faces of these people were the thing i couldn’t stop photographing.
they are the soul of this region, no doubt about it.
kennedy & julian, pigeon & mabel: last night in nyc.
kennedy and julian have been such great friends to me (and continue to be!) – but from a bit of a distance. a couple of weeks ago, they picked up their pups and their eames chairs and set south to DC. dyshaun and i interrupted their packing to celebrate with champagne and skinny girl margaritas on their well-missed terrace. love and miss you both already. xx
wedding: carolyn & brad
a few months ago, i was asked by an old friend from high school to photograph her wedding. having no experience in weddings but a little in engagement photos, i decided to give it a shot and immediately called my friend melissa for help. we had an absolute blast at the wedding and got some amazing shots. here’s a sneak peak of the bride and groom (they haven’t even seen it!)
chicago food scene / the publican
If you know me, you know that I love french fries (but I hate ketchup) and I’m always on the search for the perfect potato. And I have found them. Although the tough part is, they’re all the way in Chicago… probably for the best. While I was blown away by pretty much every restaurant we sampled in Chicago, The Publican took the cake for me. In the Fulton Market section of the city, something I would compare to Manhattan’s Meatpacking (just less overwrought with trendy restaurants and clubs), The Publican is like a ray of sunshine – literally. Large windows let light scatter on long communal-style wooden tables, each adorned with sweet sugar cubes, fresh cream and butter and sea salt. The wood, creamy and inviting, is on every detail – the chairs, the heavy bathroom doors, the beer taps. And the food is fresh and beautifully prepared. From a design (and culinary) perspective, this restaurant has it all. Scroll to the bottom to check out the fries…
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The Publican Restaurant
837 West Fulton Market, Chicago
chicago teaser: the aqua building
the most memorable piece of the towering chicago skyline was without a doubt, the aqua building. with its draped, yet fluid twists and turns, this unforgettable skyscraper became even more memorable for me – the world’s tallest skyscraper project ever headed by a woman, jeanne gang of studio gang architects.
saturday morning, antiques show on the pier.
this past saturday, i woke up early to meet kennedy and her mom for antiques hunting. while this was kennedy’s proclaimed “mecca”, i was surprised at how many pieces i had to say no to. in an effort to not purchase anything, i took photographs instead. below is a sampling of just a few of the incredible design pieces we came across.
pets visit in nyc.
when the three of us get together, the stress melts away and we’re left to incessant conversations about jewelry, products, jobs and catching up on our lives in general. i wish i took more pictures of the weekend but here’s a handful of special moments… the first (obviously) involving cupcakes.
Photography I Love: Cuba Gallery
I came across Cuba Gallery while flipping through images on Flickr and became immediately hooked. It’s the perfect mix of travel photography obviously taken with a design eye. Check out the bright colors, sweet typography and nostalgic imagery on their Flickr stream and gallery website.
New York Windows: Bergdorf Goodman
Every winter, I eagerly await the unveiling of the holiday windows. But not just any windows, it’s the display at Bergdorf Goodman that gets me every time. The designers have such a great eye and their work is flawless. I love going to take pictures there late at night because the lighting is always perfect. Here are just a few that I took this year, but will post more soon.
Tudor City, A Mini Photo Essay
When coming up with ideas for a photo essay booklet last semester, I wanted to document something that was very familiar to me. The neighborhood that I live in, Tudor City, has a distinct feel to it and is unlike any other neighborhood in Manhattan. I chose to take photographs at sunrise, which created the orange glow on all of the pictures. The booklet was hand-crafted and bound using yellow twine and was printed on rice paper to have slightly see-through overlays on each page. All photographs were taken with a Canon AE-1.
Leica Gallery, Greenwich Village
Today I discovered a gallery I’ve never been to in the West Village – the Leica Gallery. Open Tuesday – Saturday from 12-6 pm, the 5th floor space features a variety of exhibits, the current one being of photography featured in LIFE magazine. Upcoming exhibitions include glimpses into New York nightlife in the 1980s (March 4 – April 16, 2011) and a look behind the scenes of the Obama Presidency (June 10 – August 6, 2011).
Check out their website at http://en.leica-camera.com/culture/galleries/gallery_new_york/.
dusk on cornell’s campus
last weekend, i spent some time up in ithaca – hiking the gorges, sampling fresh vegetables at the farmer’s market and visiting cornell’s sprawling campus. these porthole-style windows were part of a large war memorial, overlooking the lush, green mountains sprinkled in dusk’s light.
